Wow, I’m very happy with what happened yesterday: I finished third in a big $5 MTT in a field of 243 players! And more important: I cashed $151!! And most important: I’m leading the challenge at the moment!!!
That cash out really came right on time, cause like Mr. White mentioned last time, I was behind quiete a bit. I think he’ll perceive me as a serious contender again now. So what happened? Well I played a very solid game, and mostly let the other players eliminate each other. As a matter of fact the most important hand was the first one:
I was really surprised when the other two players showed their hand, but I didn’t really mind 
. I was able to play my best poker with this big stack, which I could maintain till the final table, making some easy calls with premium hands against some shortstacked ace-rags.
Mr. White is still following close behind me ($223) and it looks like he’s playing a very solid game in the past weeks. He stated that he keeps playing sng’s with less than 180 players, because otherwise “you face too much idiots who are lucky and finish like third or something”. Mr. Brown ($173) played some 6 handed sng’s without too much succes, he said he will soon return to hu-games. I think it’s the first time since the beginning that Ms. Pink is in last place ($171). However she didn’t have many or big downswings till today so I think she will be contending for victory again very soon 
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Submitted by Mr. Blue
Because of the bizzy period some os us are having at the university at the moment, the challenge is put to a stop for a week and will be resumed in three days . However, a contribution today from yours truly.
To win a big tournament, you need some luck in a few showdowns. Or formulated better: if you play good poker, you need your opponent not to get lucky. This is exactly what irritates great players like Phil Hellmuth in tournaments. This phenomenon went through my head when I was watching some episodes of the 2008 WSOP and I saw the following hand (starts around 4’30″):
So besides Phil there’s the American pro Jean-Robert Bellande and the Russian Sarkis Akopyan on the table. Akopyan has a lot of chips and decides to play the T9 offsuit aggressively. Bellande moves all-in and you can see the consternation on his face when the Russian flips over his hand. Instead of being happy being a favorite in the hand, he fears the two live cards he’s against, because it’s such a typical tournament-situation to get knocked out in this way. What happens on the board is really infernal…
Submitted by Mr. White